Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
 
HEARTCARE AT JEFFERSON HOSPITAL

Treatment Options at Jeff’s Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Center

Treatment Options

Staff

Printable Brochure
(281K PDF file)


Schedule an Appointment
If you would like more information or to schedule an appointment, please call 215-955-2050 or 1-800-JEFF-NOW. Arrangements can be made so that you can coordinate your appointments with all of your heart failure specialists on the same day at the Center.

Location
The Center is located in Philadelphia at 925 Chestnut Street, Mezzanine level.

Hours
Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

The great depth of expertise and resources at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital’s Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Center enable patients to have access to the full spectrum of life-saving heart care, ranging from the least invasive drug therapies to state-of-the-art surgery including transplants.

See what Jeff can do for you:

Standard Therapy

  • A full array of diagnostic testing (including echocardiogram, VO2 stress test and/or catheterization), medication adjustments, cardiac rehabilitation and dietary and lifestyle-modification counseling
  • Highly skilled coronary angioplasty and drug-eluting stents to unblock and prevent re-obstruction of arteries in patients with coronary artery disease and poor heart function
  • Electrophysiologic options of biventricular pacing (a.k.a. resynchronization, to improve heart muscle function synchronizing contractions in both ventricles, improving the heart’s pumping power) and internal cardiac defibrillators (ICDs, which are implanted in the patient to stop  life-threatening arrhythmias – i.e., abnormal heart rhythms) for your patients with worsening heart failure
  • Intravenous application of dobutamine milrinone and nesiritide, at home or, in the case of nesiritide, in outpatient infusion clinics, to increase cardiac function and improve quality of life for patients with intractable heart failure

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Investigational Therapy

  • Leading researchers in multiple aspects of the cardiac disease process, including ventricular remodeling, cardiopulmonary exercise, familial genetic markers for cardiomyopathy, and immunosuppression therapies
  • Unique and promising clinical trials –supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute, the American Heart Association and the pharmaceutical industry – of new approaches to detecting, understanding, treating and preventing heart failure, including drugs and monitoring devices not  commonly available, as well a pharmacokinetic and  genetic screening studies
  • Investigational protocols – also supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute, the American Heart Association and the pharmaceutical industry – of the process in which the immune systems of certain patients who can benefit from cardiac transplants reject those transplants, and of treatments to prevent rejection.

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Surgical Therapy

  • Coronary artery bypass surgery for patients with cardiomyopathy due to coronary artery disease
  • Coronary artery bypass graft surgery and valvular repair and replacement in patients with significant heart failure and poor heart function
  • Implanted mechanical heart pump, or, as part of a research protocol, ventricular remodeling surgery, along with valvular repair, to improve cardiac function in patients with severe heart failure (as either a bridge to transplant or, in patients for whom transplant is not an option, a permanent pump)
  • Transmyocardial revascularization (TMR) by laser – a relatively new procedure not available at most hospitals for some patients as an alternative or adjunctive therapy to bypass surgery  
  • Heart transplantation, as determined by expert evaluation of those of patients whom more conventional therapy has failed

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